Bottlenose Dolphins play around Sula Beag

The local bottlenose dolphins were in the northern waters around Mull yesterday and treated the lucky passengers and crew aboard Sula Beag to a fantastic encounter.

Thanks to a call from a local fishing boat (who were kindly rewarded with Mars bars), we all knew there were dolphins in the area - it was just a case of finding them!

We scoured the coastline for over an hour and our efforts were rewarded when we spotted a group of 5 dolphins bowriding on another vessel. We followed their course and it wasn't long before the dolphins changed direction and swam towards us to check us out.

The group was socialising and we saw white bellies just under the surface as they swam upside down and rubbed up against each other. We were treated to dolphin acrobatics with high leaping out of the water and lots of bowriding and close encounters so we could see the scarring and individual markings on each of the dolphins bodies.

The pod continued following the coastline south while we investigated a basking shark feeding at the surface.

The Scottish Bottlenose dolphins are at the northern-most limit of the species range and we all felt privileged to share the waters around Mull with them today.
Lets hope they pay us another visit soon!

Sarah - SLS guide